The Repository is proud to join and support the effort now underway to renovate and enhance Fawcett Stadium.

This is the ideal time to improve the 75-year-old facility. And it is imperative that the community protect its investment in Fawcett and explore the stadium’s potential as part of a grander economic development vision.

The $23.4 million project, which Repository readers are learning about today, would ensure that Fawcett continues to be a worthy partner with the newly renovated and expanded Pro Football Hall of Fame for the annual enshrinement and Hall of Fame Game.

Stadium improvements also will strengthen Fawcett’s bid to continue hosting the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s state football championship games, which Canton and Massillon will share with Columbus for the next few years.

The Hall of Fame and Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce are seeking $10 million of the necessary funding in the state’s next capital budget. They are wisely stressing the economic impact of events at Fawcett and the Hall of Fame on the state as a whole — an impact that totals $56 million just during enshrinement and festival events each year.

But that is only the beginning of this project’s potential value. Leaders of the Hall and Chamber of Commerce, along with city, Canton City School District and other local civic leaders, are looking at prospects for redeveloping the entire area around the stadium and Hall.

This commitment to the future is essential not just to funding for Fawcett Stadium but also to the economic well-being of the community.